(thanks, Yahoo Movies!) If this latest poster is any indication of relative size, the upcoming star of one of this summer’s definite blockbusters is going to be using skyscraper spires for toothpicks and about ten tractor trailers for a set of funky roller skates. I like that it’s a companion piece to the poster on the left and shows how massive this monster will be provided this IS the actual scale (he said, still ticked off about John Berkey’s infamous King Kong poster from the 1976 remake of that classic film). As usual, we shall see, but I think the fans would get all fire-breathing and stompy if that lizards wasn’t as advertised. Pacific Rim at least delivered the goods (and how) when it came to making jaws drop as its monsters got larger and larger…
I didn’t think I’d be interested in this one at all, but this trailer got me turned around and a bit more hopeful that this actually works. The cast is out there and full of interesting choices, there’s a lot of humor and despite the Marvel logo and immediate knee jerk response that this is yet another super hero flick, there are nice signs that this one may be more than it seems. Of course, you don’t get what you expect with a James Gunn film, so it’s also great that this trailer really doesn’t do anything in giving away any major plot points (which should make this a nice surprise to see in a theater). Fan reaction seems quite positive overall, but as usual the trolls are out holding up under bridges and waiting for the saps that always get caught up in their toll traps. I pay them no heed and no fee, folks. I just roll over their flat heads with the heavy cart, hobnailed wheels and all…
While I’m a huge fan of the classics, I don’t like most modern Hollywood musicals or biopics because they try to hard to be entertaining and just feel as if they’re baked from the same stale mold. I can’t put my finger on anything other than a certain soullessness thanks to a few factors seen as “necessary” to whatever formula makes a “hit” these days.
Anyway, moving on. Despite some fine acting and singing, primo Oscar bait like Dreamworks’ big 9and massively hyped) 2006 film Dreamgirls didn’t do a thing for me either. Still, I’ve watched it in its entirety twice and one part at least two dozen or so times because it made me fall off the couch laughing the first time and stuck with me to the point that whenever the film pops up on cable, I will turn to it just for that single scene.
If you know what I’m talking about, then good for you and you’re chuckling already. If you don’t, well here you go. Mister Jimmy Early… do your stuff! Um… you may want to have a seat there, kiddo. Oh, and don’t drink anything while watching this clip if you’ve yet to see the movie (spoiler alert? I guess so):
I had to leave the room for a few minutes, as if I have to see this clip again, I might pop something inside. Heh. Gets me every time. As for the rest of the film? Meh. I have my Motown and Stax memories and the actual music from that era to keep my ears, brain and (if I feel like shaking a tail feather) hips occupied. So I don’t need any expensive (but nice looking and well intentioned) films that want me to “feel” something for the people in it when all I care about are the old tunes and memories those classic songs bring forth. That said, Eddie Murphy kills it dead here. “Jimmy got soul” indeed. Heee.
I can only imagine what would have happened had Alejandro Jodorowsky actually gotten his wild version of DUNE made way back in 1975 or however long it would have taken to film properly. Well, this must-see documentary may answer that for me to some extent, but I still won’t be satisfied because I still want to see it made at some point. Even as an animated film (traditional with a dash of CG enhancement in backgrounds, please!), I think it would blow the minds of anyone who sees it, especially with all those amazing artists like Moebius, Giger, Foss and others who contributed to this failed project before moving on to bigger and better things. Anyway, this one’s a must-see documentary for a few reasons and I’ll most likely shell out for the Blu-Ray/DVD when it gets a release just because this chronicle of a never made adaptation is something that deserves a few looks outside of a theater setting.
Hmmm. I have a rabid dislike for trailers for films that haven’t been released that have blurbs in them, period. Sure, it’s a great way to hype up a project, but that comparison of this upcoming flick to Stanley Kubrick’s output made my eyebrow arch up and stick until I got a bad cramp. Granted, this long teaser to UNDER THE SKIN does look nice and cryptic (a good thing in this age of movies spilling plot beans all over the place in two minutes or so) and some of the imagery IS quite striking. So color me intrigued, Miss Johansson. Not sure I’m fond of that British accent she’s doing here, but it’s far from the worst I’ve heard.
But I have the feeling that until I actually see this at some point, it’ll just stay vague and haunting. I’ll probably hold out for the home video or cable showing, as if I can’t get into a screening I’d rather not sit in a theater with chumps of both sexes looking for a boob shot, their wives and/or girlfriends elbowing them in the head and that ONE person who decided to bring a child to a film not made for that age group. Yeah, it’s always something when you go to the movies these days…
Ooooh… I hate you (again) Criterion! Granted, I really DON’T hate these guys and gals because they do some incredible work with their hove video versions of some great and not so great films, I just hate that they charge a premium for all that hard work 9as they should). I didn’t buy Fantastic Mr. Fox on any format yet because I got busy, was too lazy to look it up when I wasn’t busy and then I heard Criterion was doing up a special “Director-Approved” version (drool!), meaning there goes an arm or leg if I now want the definitive version. This wonderful flick and Moonrise Kingdom are my current two favorite films from Wes Anderson, so perhaps that one is next up on the block to get this special treatment?
Yeah, I “hate” you, Criterion… but you’re doing film fans a major solid (at least in territories where you sell your fine products). This one’s available February 18, by the way…
Nope, if you DON’T go to the movies, RoboCop won’t roll up and drag you by the collar to the nearest theater and plant you in a seat with no popcorn. Nope, you’ll just have to live without that embarrassment, people. However, if the film is worth seeing and you miss it, you’ll have to deal with those pals of yours yakking on and on about it until you crack an break out that wallet for your own ticket. Of course, those noise-canceling headphones people seem crazy about just may be your new best friends for a few weeks if you’re holding out for that home video release. Just nod and smile when people talk to you and it’s going to be alright.
Of course, you may end up joining the army, a cult, suddenly getting married or even become part of a robbery team RoboCop has to break up if you go about your days nodding and smiling at everything, so don’t rely TOO much on those headphones…
Depending on your frame of mind, The Boys From Brazil will either creep you out of make you laugh a wee bit too much. It will do both if you’re somewhere in the middle on the mental front (or are a first time viewer), but I’ll leave you to let this one settle where it lands. Franklin J. Schaffner’s signature directorial style is on full display here as this semi sci-fi/dramal/horror flick does its thing with some interesting casting choices, dialog ripe with amusing yet nasty situations and a number of creative demises for a few characters.
Granted, the subject matter is a bit touchy to some, what with the book and film positing real-life Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck!) as alive and kicking and still working on a pretty outlandish experiment that involves almost a hundred little Hitlers. But the film pulls you in right from the start and keeps you watching as the bad, mad doctor’s plans slowly but surely come to fruition. Well, sort of…
YUM! I said I’d eat a crow pie if I was wrong about The Lego Movie not sucking and yep, I’m a man of my word, although I had to substitute some of my not yet world famous chicken for “crow” and a few slices of whole grain bread for “pie”. Anyway, it’s good to see this one netting nice notices so now I need to see it at some point and make sure all those critics weren’t sucking in the happy gas WB pumped into those free screenings I didn’t get an invite to (boo!). Since I’ve been ignoring the film for the most part, I’m going in blind other than what I’ve seen on those TV spots popping up all over the place every few seconds. I still think it’ll be well over the heads of anyone over ten years old who won’t get all the references and in-jokes, but that’s probably me underestimating the kids of the hipsters and boomers taking them to see this.
And wait, wha-whaaaat?There’s a video game based on the film as well? I did predict this last year or earlier, but I’m actually surprised that there was one made because that’s just TOO meta at the end of the day. Anyway, you KNOW a movie is going to be worth seeing when Fox News has a shit fit about it for all the wrong reasons. They seem to believe that a movie made to get people to run out and spend money to see it (and the tie in toys AND the game that’s made for the same purpose) is somehow teaching kids to be “anti-capitalist” (wha-whaaaat?)… despite the OBVIOUS hundreds of millions this will rake in for a few big corporations. As the kids say, DERP.
Yeah, they’re quite stupid over there and I wish they’d stop it. But it’s interesting watching them hang themselves by their own rope every day they keep the blood pressure of their viewership headed through the roof over trifling nonsense. Perhaps they all need to chill for a bit and actually go see some of the stuff they bitch and moan about as bad for Amurrrrica? That would be my prescription…
Aha. I see what happened! I accidentally overwrote this post somehow thanks to having TWO “Add New Post” tabs open, using one to post these trailers, closing up shop for the night and restating today to use that second window. WordPress recognizes multiple windows open as the SAME post, so if you try to be slick and do multiple posts in different tabs, you’re going to simply overwrite the first post as you think you’re publishing NEW ones. Blargh. I haven’t done that in a while, so I’ll need to NOT do that again. (gives self Vulcan memory pinch): “REMEMBER.” Any-way, here we go again (and I HATE rewriting stuff, so it’s a bit different this time:
As you can see, there’s a new shiny metal sheriff coming to town, so you’ll want to be extra good while hoping this film is as well. I think it’ll do well on its own merits, but you know some of the die-hard who want that R-rating will be going after this one for anything they see as not as good as the original. On that note, I say as long as you guys cling to that classic, it’ll live on forever. But don’t poop on this reboots’ parade if it manages to get stuff right and isn’t a bad film at the end of the day. Granted, it’s going to be headed to home video in what, four to six months from now and possibly hit cable before the end of the year, right? So you can see this without paying that ticket price. I guess if you average in whatever you pay for cable or whatever streaming service you use, you’ll be buying this for LESS than a dollar soon enough. Ha and ha ha.
Meh – I like the old post better, but this will have to do. At least I dug up a third clip I just noticed while recovering the other two. The FUNNY thing is I had a tab with the old post in it open, but closed it, so I could have copied and pasted the darn thing if I’d caught the error! Ah well… Love me, love my dumb mistakes!
(thanks, Yahoo Movies!) 
If this latest poster is any indication of relative size, the upcoming star of one of this summer’s definite blockbusters is going to be using skyscraper spires for toothpicks and about ten tractor trailers for a set of funky roller skates. I like that it’s a companion piece to the poster on the left and shows how massive this monster will be provided this IS the actual scale (he said, still ticked off about John Berkey’s infamous King Kong poster from the 1976 remake of that classic film). As usual, we shall see, but I think the fans would get all fire-breathing and stompy if that lizards wasn’t as advertised. Pacific Rim at least delivered the goods (and how) when it came to making jaws drop as its monsters got larger and larger…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 